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382 CHAPTER 12 Marriage and Family

African American Families

Note that the heading reads African American families, not
the African American family. There is no such thing as the
African American family any more than there is the white
family or the Latino family. The primary distinction is not
between African Americans and other groups but between
social classes (Willie and Reddick 2003). Because African
Americans who are members of the upper class follow the
class interests reviewed in Chapter 8—preservation of privi-
lege and family fortune—they are especially concerned about
the family background of those whom their children marry
(Gatewood 1990). To them, marriage is viewed as a merger
of family lines. Children of this class marry later than children
of other classes.
Middle-class African American families focus on achievement
and respectability. Both husband and wife are likely to work
outside the home. A central concern is that their children go to
There is no such thing as the African
American family, any more than college, get good jobs, and marry well—that is, marry people
there is the Native American, Asian like themselves, respectable and hardworking, who want to get ahead in school and
American, Latino, or Irish American pursue a successful career.
family. Rather, each racial–ethnic African American families in poverty face all the problems that cluster around pov-
group has different types of families, erty (Smith-Bynum 2013). Because the men have few marketable skills and few job
with the primary determinant being
social class. prospects, it is difficult for them to fulfill the cultural roles of husband and father.
Consequently, these families are likely to be headed by a woman and to have a high
rate of births to single women. Divorce and desertion are also more common than
among other classes. Sharing scarce resources and “stretching kinship” are primary
survival mechanisms. People who have helped out in hard times are considered broth-
Read on MySocLab ers, sisters, or cousins to whom one owes obligations as though they were blood rela-
Document: African tives. Men who are not the biological fathers of their children are given fatherhood
American Families:
A Legacy of Vulnerability status (Stack 1974; Nelson 2013). Sociologists use the term fictive kin to refer to this
and Resilience stretching of kinship.
From Figure 12.8 on the next page, you can see that, compared with other groups,
African American families are the least likely to be headed by married couples and the
most likely to be headed by women. Because African American women tend to go far-
ther in school than African American men, they face a marriage squeeze. That is, their
pool of eligible partners with characteristics that match theirs has shrunk, and they are
more likely than women in other racial–ethnic groups to marry men who are less edu-
cated than themselves (Smith-Bynum 2013).

Latino Families
As Figure 12.8 shows, the proportion of Latino families headed by married couples
and women falls in between that of whites and Native Americans. The effects of social
class on families, which I just sketched, also apply to Latinos. In addition, families
differ by country of origin. Families from Mexico, for example, are more likely to be
headed by a married couple than are families from Puerto Rico (Statistical Abstract
2013:Table 37). It is important to note that the longer that Latinos live in the
United States, the more their families resemble those of middle-class Americans
(Falicov 2010).
Researchers disagree on what is distinctive about Latino families (Cabrera and
Bradley 2012). Some point to the strong role that Latino husbands/fathers play in
family life, but others find great diversity in their involvement. Some indicate that
Latino families are set apart by the Spanish language, the Roman Catholic religion,
and a strong family orientation coupled with a disapproval of divorce. True in a mild,
general sort of way, but this overlooks the Latino families that are Protestants, don’t